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1.
Overexpression of thioredoxin m in tobacco chloroplasts inhibits the protein kinase STN7 and alters photosynthetic performance.
Ancín, M, Fernández-San Millán, A, Larraya, L, Morales, F, Veramendi, J, Aranjuelo, I, Farran, I
Journal of experimental botany. 2019;(3):1005-1016
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Abstract
The activity of the protein kinase STN7, involved in phosphorylation of the light-harvesting complex II (LHCII) proteins, has been reported as being co-operatively regulated by the redox state of the plastoquinone pool and the ferredoxin-thioredoxin (Trx) system. The present study aims to investigate the role of plastid Trxs in STN7 regulation and their impact on photosynthesis. For this purpose, tobacco plants overexpressing Trx f or m from the plastid genome were characterized, demonstrating that only Trx m overexpression was associated with a complete loss of LHCII phosphorylation that did not correlate with decreased STN7 levels. The absence of phosphorylation in Trx m-overexpressing plants impeded migration of LHCII from PSII to PSI, with the concomitant loss of PSI-LHCII complex formation. Consequently, the thylakoid ultrastructure was altered, showing reduced grana stacking. Moreover, the electron transport rate was negatively affected, showing an impact on energy-demanding processes such as the Rubisco maximum carboxylation capacity and ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate regeneration rate values, which caused a strong depletion in net photosynthetic rates. Finally, tobacco plants overexpressing a Trx m mutant lacking the reactive redox site showed equivalent physiological performance to the wild type, indicating that the overexpressed Trx m deactivates STN7 in a redox-dependent way.
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Synthetic biology approaches for improving photosynthesis.
Kubis, A, Bar-Even, A
Journal of experimental botany. 2019;(5):1425-1433
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Abstract
The phenomenal increase in agricultural yields that we have witnessed in the last century has slowed down as we approach the limits of selective breeding and optimization of cultivation techniques. To support the yield increase required to feed an ever-growing population, we will have to identify new ways to boost the efficiency with which plants convert light into biomass. This challenge could potentially be tackled using state-of-the-art synthetic biology techniques to rewrite plant carbon fixation. In this review, we use recent studies to discuss and demonstrate different approaches for enhancing carbon fixation, including engineering Rubisco for higher activity, specificity, and activation; changing the expression level of enzymes within the Calvin cycle to avoid kinetic bottlenecks; introducing carbon-concentrating mechanisms such as inorganic carbon transporters, carboxysomes, and C4 metabolism; and rewiring photorespiration towards more energetically efficient routes or pathways that do not release CO2. We conclude by noting the importance of prioritizing and combining different approaches towards continuous and sustainable increase of plant productivities.
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[Water Soluble Chlorophyll-Binding Proteins of Plants: Structure, Properties and Functions].
Maleeva, YV, Neverov, KV, Obukhov, YN, Kritsky, MS
Molekuliarnaia biologiia. 2019;(6):998-1011
Abstract
Water soluble chlorophyll-binding proteins (WSCPs) of higher plants differ from most proteins containing chlorophyll orbacteriochlorophyll in that they are soluble in watr and are neither embedded in the lipid membrane nor directly involved in the process of photosynthesis. Chlorophyll molecules in WSCPs ensembles are packed in dimers within the hydrophobic zone of the protein matrix, similar to the structure of a chlorophyll "special pair" in the reaction centers of phototrophs. This fact together with the detected photosensitizing activity of WSCPs makes it possible to consider these proteins as a promising object for modelling the evolutionary prototypes of the photosynthetic apparatus, as well as for developing the artificial solar energy converters. There are two classes of proteins in the WSCP family, class I and class II the representatives of these classes have a weak degree of homology in the primary structure, but a high degree of similarity in the tertiary and quaternary structure. One of the features of class I WSCPs is photoconversion, that is, to change the structure and spectral properties of the chromophore under the action of light. The functions of WSCPs in the plant are thought to be associated with stress protection.
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Disentangling the role of photosynthesis and stomatal conductance on rising forest water-use efficiency.
Guerrieri, R, Belmecheri, S, Ollinger, SV, Asbjornsen, H, Jennings, K, Xiao, J, Stocker, BD, Martin, M, Hollinger, DY, Bracho-Garrillo, R, et al
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2019;(34):16909-16914
Abstract
Multiple lines of evidence suggest that plant water-use efficiency (WUE)-the ratio of carbon assimilation to water loss-has increased in recent decades. Although rising atmospheric CO2 has been proposed as the principal cause, the underlying physiological mechanisms are still being debated, and implications for the global water cycle remain uncertain. Here, we addressed this gap using 30-y tree ring records of carbon and oxygen isotope measurements and basal area increment from 12 species in 8 North American mature temperate forests. Our goal was to separate the contributions of enhanced photosynthesis and reduced stomatal conductance to WUE trends and to assess consistency between multiple commonly used methods for estimating WUE. Our results show that tree ring-derived estimates of increases in WUE are consistent with estimates from atmospheric measurements and predictions based on an optimal balancing of carbon gains and water costs, but are lower than those based on ecosystem-scale flux observations. Although both physiological mechanisms contributed to rising WUE, enhanced photosynthesis was widespread, while reductions in stomatal conductance were modest and restricted to species that experienced moisture limitations. This finding challenges the hypothesis that rising WUE in forests is primarily the result of widespread, CO2-induced reductions in stomatal conductance.
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Balancing protection and efficiency in the regulation of photosynthetic electron transport across plant evolution.
Alboresi, A, Storti, M, Morosinotto, T
The New phytologist. 2019;(1):105-109
Abstract
Contents Summary 105 I. Introduction 105 II. Diversity of molecular mechanisms for regulation of photosynthetic electron transport 106 III. Role of FLVs in the regulation of photosynthesis in eukaryotes 107 IV. Why were FLVs lost in angiosperms? 108 V. Conclusions 108 Acknowledgements 109 References 109 SUMMARY Photosynthetic electron transport requires continuous modulation to maintain the balance between light availability and metabolic demands. Multiple mechanisms for the regulation of electron transport have been identified and are unevenly distributed among photosynthetic organisms. Flavodiiron proteins (FLVs) influence photosynthetic electron transport by accepting electrons downstream of photosystem I to reduce oxygen to water. FLV activity has been demonstrated in cyanobacteria, green algae and mosses to be important in avoiding photosystem I overreduction upon changes in light intensity. FLV-encoding sequences were nevertheless lost during evolution by angiosperms, suggesting that these plants increased the efficiency of other mechanisms capable of accepting electrons from photosystem I, making the FLV activity for protection from overreduction superfluous or even detrimental for photosynthetic efficiency.
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Feeding the world: improving photosynthetic efficiency for sustainable crop production.
Simkin, AJ, López-Calcagno, PE, Raines, CA
Journal of experimental botany. 2019;(4):1119-1140
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Abstract
A number of recent studies have provided strong support demonstrating that improving the photosynthetic processes through genetic engineering can provide an avenue to improve yield potential. The major focus of this review is on improvement of the Calvin-Benson cycle and electron transport. Consideration is also given to how altering regulatory process may provide an additional route to increase photosynthetic efficiency. Here we summarize some of the recent successes that have been observed through genetic manipulation of photosynthesis, showing that, in both the glasshouse and the field, yield can be increased by >40%. These results provide a clear demonstration of the potential for increasing yield through improvements in photosynthesis. In the final section, we consider the need to stack improvement in photosynthetic traits with traits that target the yield gap in order to provide robust germplasm for different crops across the globe.
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Converging phenomics and genomics to study natural variation in plant photosynthetic efficiency.
van Bezouw, RFHM, Keurentjes, JJB, Harbinson, J, Aarts, MGM
The Plant journal : for cell and molecular biology. 2019;(1):112-133
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Abstract
In recent years developments in plant phenomic approaches and facilities have gradually caught up with genomic approaches. An opportunity lies ahead to dissect complex, quantitative traits when both genotype and phenotype can be assessed at a high level of detail. This is especially true for the study of natural variation in photosynthetic efficiency, for which forward genetics studies have yielded only a little progress in our understanding of the genetic layout of the trait. High-throughput phenotyping, primarily from chlorophyll fluorescence imaging, should help to dissect the genetics of photosynthesis at the different levels of both plant physiology and development. Specific emphasis should be directed towards understanding the acclimation of the photosynthetic machinery in fluctuating environments, which may be crucial for the identification of genetic variation for relevant traits in food crops. Facilities should preferably be designed to accommodate phenotyping of photosynthesis-related traits in such environments. The use of forward genetics to study the genetic architecture of photosynthesis is likely to lead to the discovery of novel traits and/or genes that may be targeted in breeding or bio-engineering approaches to improve crop photosynthetic efficiency. In the near future, big data approaches will play a pivotal role in data processing and streamlining the phenotype-to-gene identification pipeline.
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Plant morphology, physiological characteristics, accumulation of secondary metabolites and antioxidant activities of Prunella vulgaris L. under UV solar exclusion.
Chen, Y, Zhang, X, Guo, Q, Cao, L, Qin, Q, Li, C, Zhao, M, Wang, W
Biological research. 2019;(1):17
Abstract
BACKGROUND Prunella vulgaris L. has been an important medicinal plant for the treatment of thyroid gland malfunction and mastitis in China for over 2000 years. There is an urgent need to select effective wavelengths for greenhouse cultivation of P. vulgaris as light is a very important factor in P. vulgaris growth. Here, we described the effects of natural light (control) and UV solar exclusion on the morphological and physiological traits, secondary metabolites contents and antioxidant activities of P. vulgaris. RESULTS The results showed that UV solar exclusion resulted in remarkable alterations to morphological and biomass traits; significantly reduced the chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and total chlorophyll contents; significantly enhanced the ratio of chlorophyll a to b; and significantly increased the carotenoid and anthocyanin contents in P. vulgaris. UV solar exclusion significantly increased the catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POD) activities, increased superoxide dismutase (SOD) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activities and slightly decreased the glutathione (GSH) content. UV solar exclusion significantly increased the soluble sugar and H2O2 contents and increased the soluble protein content but significantly decreased the proline content and slightly decreased the MDA content. The secondary metabolite contents (total phenolics, rosmarinic acid, caffeic acid, hyperoside, ursolic acid and oleanolic acid) and in vitro antioxidative properties (DPPH· and ABTS·+scavenging activities) were significantly increased in P. vulgaris spicas under UV solar exclusion. Additionally, the total polysaccharide and total flavonoids contents were slightly increased by UV solar exclusion. The salviaflaside content was significantly reduced by UV solar exclusion. CONCLUSION Our study demonstrated that P. vulgaris activates several antioxidant defence systems against oxidative damage caused by UV solar exclusion.
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Role and regulation of class-C flavodiiron proteins in photosynthetic organisms.
Alboresi, A, Storti, M, Cendron, L, Morosinotto, T
The Biochemical journal. 2019;(17):2487-2498
Abstract
The regulation of photosynthesis is crucial to efficiently support the assimilation of carbon dioxide and to prevent photodamage. One key regulatory mechanism is the pseudo-cyclic electron flow (PCEF) mediated by class-C flavodiiron proteins (FLVs). These enzymes use electrons coming from Photosystem I (PSI) to reduce oxygen to water, preventing over-reduction in the acceptor side of PSI. FLVs are widely distributed among organisms performing oxygenic photosynthesis and they have been shown to be fundamental in many different conditions such as fluctuating light, sulfur deprivation and plant submersion. Moreover, since FLVs reduce oxygen they can help controlling the redox status of the cell and maintaining the microoxic environment essential for processes such as nitrogen fixation in cyanobacteria. Despite these important roles identified in various species, the genes encoding for FLV proteins have been lost in angiosperms where their activity could have been at least partially compensated by a more efficient cyclic electron flow (CEF). The present work reviews the information emerged on FLV function, analyzing recent structural data that suggest FLV could be regulated through a conformational change.
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Photosynthesis and yield response to elevated CO2, C4 plant foxtail millet behaves similarly to C3 species.
Li, P, Li, B, Seneweera, S, Zong, Y, Li, FY, Han, Y, Hao, X
Plant science : an international journal of experimental plant biology. 2019;:239-247
Abstract
Foxtail millet (Setaria italica) is a nutrient-rich food source traditionally grown in arid and semi-arid areas, as it is well adapted to drought climate. Yet there is limited information as how the crop responses to the changing climate. In order to investigate the response of foxtail millet to elevated [CO2] and the underlying mechanism, the crop was grown at ambient [CO2] (400 μmol mol-1) and elevated [CO2] (600 μmol mol-1) in an open-top chamber (OTC) experimental facility in North China. The changes in leaf photosynthesis, chlorophyll fluorescence, biomass, yield and global gene expression in response to elevated [CO2] were determined. Despite foxtail millet being a C4 photosynthetic crop, photosynthetic rates (PN) and intrinsic water-use efficiency (WUEi), were increased under elevated [CO2]. Similarly, grain yield and above-ground biomass also significantly increased (P < 0.05) for the two years of experimentation under elevated [CO2]. Increases in seeds and tiller number, spike and stem weight were the main contributors to the increased grain yield and biomass. Using transcriptomic analyses, this study further identified some genes which play a role in cell wall reinforcement, shoot initiation, stomatal conductance, carbon fixation, glycolysis / gluconeogenesis responsive to elevated [CO2]. Changes in these genes reduced plant height, increased stem diameters, and promote CO2 fixation. Higher photosynthetic rates at elevated [CO2] demonstrated that foxtail millet was not photosynthetically saturated at elevated [CO2] and its photosynthesis response to elevated [CO2] were analogous to C3 plants.